The year was 1988. A big year for me, as I was one of the lucky few to witness in person one of the greatest World Series games of all time. I know there are millions of people who claim to have been there when Kirk Gibson hobbled to the plate in the ninth inning with two outs, one man on and the Dodgers trailing the Oakland A's 4-3, but I really was. I'll never forget sitting (well, standing at that moment) in the left field stands when Gibby smacked a 3-2 pitch over the right-field fence off future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley, pumping his fist twice as his rounded second base. But I digress.
The menu song is undoubtedly the greatest McDonald's advertising campaign of all time. The basic premise of the commercials was a McDonald's customer placing an order at the counter. But this was no ordinary customer. This guy must of had a serious case of the munchies because he ordered one of everything on the menu - and he did it in song form! Brilliant!
The menu song campaign also featured a $1,000,000 giveaway wherein millions of records were distributed with McDonald's ads with each record featuring a version of the menu song. On most versions the singer was unable to perfectly recite the song and were therefore losers. Only one record featured a perfect song and the million dollar prize.
As a young, impressionable boy, I received my record in the Sunday paper and immediately played it on my Fisher-Price turntable only to be disappointed when the singer failed to make it completely through the song. However, my disappointment was fleeting and I quickly became entranced by this wonderful song. My best friend at the time, we'll call him Mr. La Forge, also received a record and together we listened to the menu song over and over until it became permanently ingrained into our young brains. To this day, some 21 years later, I can still perfectly recite the entire menu song at the drop of a hat and I consider it one of my crowning achievements. So without further ado, I present to you the McDonald's menu song.
"Big Mac, Mc DLT, a Quarter-Pounder with some cheese, Filet-O-Fish, a hamburger, a cheeseburger, a Happy Meal. McNuggets, tasty golden french fries, regular or larger size, and salads: chef or garden, or a chicken salad oriental. Big Big Breakfast, Egg McMuffin, hot hot cakes, and sausage. Maybe biscuits, bacon, egg and cheese, a sausage, danish, hash browns too. And for dessert hot apple pies, and sundaes three varieties, a soft-serve cone, three kinds of shakes, and chocolatey chip cookies. And to drink a Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and orange drink, A Sprite and coffee, decaf too, A lowfat milk, also an orange juice. I love McDonald's, good time great taste, and I get this all at one place."
